You are invited! Join us for a day of math and fun!

9:00 am – 1:00 pm on Friday, October 11th, 2024

The day will begin at 9:00am with registration followed by games and a hands-on mathematical activities.

Activities:

• HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE? THE AMAZING WORLD OF PROBABILITY, led by Evan Sorensen & Hindy Drillick. We will play a unique game with unusual dice. If dice A beats dice B and dice B beats dice C, does that mean dice A beats dice C? In this activity, we will explore the seemingly contradictory and fascinating  world of probability.
• FANTASTIC MAPS AND HOW TO COLOR THEM, led by Marco Castronovo and Karina Dovgodko. Mathematics is somewhere between science and art. We will illustrate this point by coloring maps of imaginary lands, whose regions can have all sort of shapes. How many colors do you need to fill the regions of a map, so that neighboring ones get different colors?
• CAN YOU TELL A DONUT AND A CHEESECAKE APART? AN INTRODUCTION TO TOPOLOGY, led by Francesco Lin & Zoe Himwich. In topology one studies how shapes can be stretched, twisted, crumpled, and bent. For example, the shapes of a cheesecake and a scoop of ice cream can be deformed one into the other, so they are the same to a topologist. How can then tell any two objects apart? We’ll explore these ideas, and see that the shapes of a cookie and a donut are not the same!
• CURVATURE AND SHAPE: WHAT PIZZA AND PLANETS HAVE IN COMMON, led by Sven Hirsch & Raphael Tsiamis. Did you know how the way you hold a pizza can reveal secrets about its shape? In this session, we’ll explore surfaces like spheres and Pringles chips, and how this helps us understand both everyday objects and the universe. Through hands-on activities and simple geometric ideas you’ll see how geometry shapes everything from pizza slices to planets! 

Modules:

• MODULE A (room 417): Games! (room 507) / How is that possible? The amazing world of probability / Curvature and shape / Fantastic maps and how to color them
• MODULE B (room 622): Curvature and shape / Fantastic maps and how to color them / Can you tell a donut and a cheesecake apart? / Games! (room 507)
• MODULE C (room 528): Fantastic maps and how to color them / Games! (room 507) / How is that possible? The amazing world of probability / Can you tell a donut and a cheesecake apart?
• MODULE D (room 520): Can you tell a donut and a cheesecake apart? / Curvature and shape / Games! (room 507) / How is that possible? The amazing world of probability

Schedule:

9:00 – 9:30 am: Organizational meeting and selection of the modules in the lounge on the 5th floor of the Math Department

9:30 – 10:00 am: Activity 1

10.05 – 10:35 am: Activity 2

10:55 – 11:25 am: Activity 3

11:30am – 12:00 pm: Activity 4

12:00 – 1:00 pm: Lunch in the lounge on the 5th floor.

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